And after what he’s done for me over the past three days, let alone the past three weeks, I’m bound and determined to figure out if this thing between us has a future. But I fear I’m hoping for more than I deserve. More than I’ve earned. Maybe I’m just not a lucky person, despite what others who know my full truth would say.
Shoveling a heavenly bite of eggs into my mouth, I glance at the candles sitting on the end of the counter. “I’m sorry we didn’t get to do the fireplace thing.”
His left eyebrow arches. “Oh, we’re doing the fireplace thing. I keep my promises, Kenna.”
I must be feeling a whole lot better, because tingles race up and down my arms and legs at the promise. And I’m pretty sure I turn a few shades of red.
He chuckles. “There she is.”
After a hearty breakfast, Carter wraps up the leftovers, makes a pot of soup I can reheat for lunch and dinner, and then reluctantly prepares to leave.
He looks around the cabin as if he hasn’t been here hundreds of times. “Somehow, leaving this time is different,” he says.
I tilt my head. “Why is that?”
“Maybe because I’ve realized everything I want is here.”
With those words, he kisses my cheek, grabs his keys, and walks out the door.
I fall back onto the couch and pull a pillow into my lap. Because I think I just had the exact same realization.
Chapter Thirty-five
Carter
Amelia dances around the cabin when Christian and Bug trail inside behind me, their arms loaded with games, mine loaded with boxes of pizza. No matter how much I want the fireplace thing to happen, it’s more important to raise the spirits of the two people living in total isolation.
The thing is, I get the idea Kenna and Amelia are used to solitude. With the exception of the one she had a falling out with last year, Kenna never speaks of friends—for her or Amelia.
I ask myself once again how I can be in love with someone I still know so little about. At this point, however, I’m not sure anything I learn about her could sway my feelings. I’m a goner. I’m in this lock, stock, and barrel. And I know my life will never be the same if these two souls walk out of it.
When I go back to the car and return with a couple of air mattresses, Amelia becomes even more excited.
The smile on Kenna’s face is miles wide. I cleared it with her before setting up the sleepover.
“Can we build a blanket fort and sleep in it?” Amelia asks, bouncing on her toes like an overstimulated bunny.
Bug stacks games on the kitchen counter. “Sure, squirt. But girls only. I had to swear on my life that Christian and I would sleep in separate rooms.”
Kenna laughs and whispers to me, “I’m sure that was a fun conversation with Asher.”
“You have no idea.” I turn to Amelia. “How about we set up the blanket fort out here? We can put the air mattresses inside and you and Bug can sleep there. Your mom can sleep on the pullout couch, and Christian and I will take the bedroom.”
Amelia runs to the closet to get all the blankets.
“Hold on, pumpkin. Pizza first? I got pepperoni.”
Amelia thinks about it, looking from the blankets to the pizza boxes. “What if I want to eat pizzainthe blanket fort?”
I cock my head. “You know, I think pizza in a blanket fort sounds like a lot of fun.”
Kenna holds up her hand. “Hold on. Are you forgetting how messy my child can be? I’m sure Bug isn’t too keen to sleep on mozzarella and pizza sauce.”
“Don’t be a party pooper, Kenna,” I say with a wink. “This is a sleepover. You definitely need to eat pizza in a fort on a sleepover.” I set the oven on low, put the pizza boxes inside, then ask Bug, “Help me move the table into the middle of the room?”
We spend the next thirty minutes constructing the fort. It’s not pretty. Blankets are draped over the table, the chairs, the back of the couch. We even hung one from the antlers on the wall. By the time we’re done, half the main living area is a kluge of sheets, blankets, towels, bungee cords, even a tarp I had in the back of my car.
I add a few finishing touches when Amelia uses the bathroom, then I hold open the ‘door’ to the fort for her. “You first, m’lady.”
